Joventut trounces Slask, 97-79, to clinch first place

Joventut Badalona clinched the top spot in Group A by downing Slask Wroclaw 97-79 at home on Tuesday.

Regular Season

Round 17 of 18

game Slask Wroclaw vs Joventut Badalona

Regular Season

group a

Joventut BadalonaCJB

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Slask WroclawWKS

group a

Overview

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Joventut finished the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season with a 12-4 record and locked up first place. Coach Duran's team will have the home-court advantage in all of its knock-out round games, too. Albert Ventura and Simon Birgander led the winners with 16 points apiece. Vladimir Brodziansky added 12, Ante Tomic 11 and Pep Busquets and Joel Parra each had 10 for Joventut. D'Mitrik Trice shined for Slask with 22 points, Kerem Kanter added 15 and Kodi Justice and Aleksander Dziewa each scored 11 for the visitors. Justice and Trice helped Slask to a 20-22 lead after 10 minutes, but Derek Willis, Birgander and Brodziansky stepped up for Joventut, which pulled away to lead 48-35 at halftime and never looked back.

Justice got Slask going with a jumper that Busquets bettered with a triple for a 3-2 Joventut lead. Jakub Karolak and Trice each struck from downtown for a 5-8 Slask edge. Tomic twice scored down low. He didn't find much help, however, while Trice and Dziewa kept the visitors in charge, 9-12. Justice insisted from beyond the arc, Tomic answered with a layup and Birgander found his first points for a 13-15 Joventut deficit. Trice buried a floater and Kanter added a jump hook, but Brodziansky struck twice from beyond the arc to tie it at 19-19. Karolak also made a three-pointer to give Slask a 20-22 lead after 10 minutes.

Lukasz Kolenda scored in penetration early in the second quarter. Ventura answered with a fastbreak layup off a steal that Birgander followed with a put-back basket for a 25-24 Joventut lead. Kanter buried a triple, but Birgander and Pau Ribas fueled a 6-0 run that gave the hosts a 31-27 edge. Kanter kept pacing Slask with a driving basket that Brodziansky matched with a jump hook. Andres Feliz and Willis fueled a 9-0 run highlighted by Parra's running hook. Trice and Michal Gabinski each nailed a triple to give Slask hope at 42-35. Willis followed a put-back layup with a jumper to restore a double-digit Joventut lead, 48-35, at halftime.

Dziewa followed a tip-in with a put-back dunk soon after the break. Birgander dunked and Ribas sank a mid-range jumper and fed Willis for a huge alley-oop slam that caused Slask to call timeout at 56-39. Justice and Dziewa tried to change things for the visitors, who kept missing open shots from downtown. Feliz sank a corner three-pointer to break the game open, 61-42. Karolak took over with a backdoor layup which Martins Meieres followed with a put-back basket for a 61-46 score. Kanter bettered Ventura's layup with a three-point play and Trice buried a triple to bring Slask within 67-52. Ventura answered with a three-point play and Tomic hit a jump hook for a 72-54 Joventut margin after 30 minutes.

Ventura struck twice from beyond the arc early in the fourth quarter and Parra joined the three-point shootout for an 81-57 Joventut advantage. Kanter kept pacing Slask against his former team and Trice buried a floater that brought the visitors within 81-61. Brodziansky ignited the crowd with a big three-point play, Trice, Ventura and Busquets each struck from downtown before Jan Wojcik dunked to make it 92-66. Slask kept fighting until the final buzzer, but Joventut managed to seal the outcome long before the final buzzer and earned the right to get the home-court advantage in all of its remaining games.